Bag seal



Oct. 6, 1953 G. G. CANTER ET AL 2,654,624

BAG SEAL Filed May 9, 1952 lnven/ors George G. Can/er Gilbert 6. Can/erAf/ameys Patented Oct. 6, 1953 UNITED BAG SEAL George G. Canter andGilbert G. Canter, New York, N. Y.

Application May 9, 1952, Serial No. 286,884

This invention relates to bag seals and more particularly to seals suchas are used with bags in which money is transported.

The general objects of the invention are to provide an easily removablebag seal having improved gripping properties which is simple tomanufacture, highly eirective in use, and which may be produced at a lowcost.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a seal in whichboth loops of the cord may readily be cut, from either or both sides, toremove the seal from the bag without injuring the bag.

The invention will best be understood from the following detaileddescription of thepresent preferred embodiments thereof, taken inconjunction with the drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the gathered neck portion of a bagshowing the seal applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a plan of a fiat, punched, serrated metal blank prior to itsbeing bent and further formed to produce the flanged bag=grippingelement;

Figs. 3 and 4 are, respectively, outer and inner perspective views ofone embodiment of the im proved bag-gripping element;

Fig. 5 is a modification in which the serrations are omitted from thelower edge of the element;

Fig. 6 is a further modification in which secondary flanges are providedadjacent the openings in the element through which the reaches of thecord pass; I

Fig. 7 is a further modification similar to that shown in Fig. '6 inwhich the secondary flanges have smooth rather than serrated edges;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged cross section on the line 88 of Fig. '7, showingthe element in position on a bag;

Fig. 9 is a plan of a complete seal assembly ready to be applied to abag; and

Fig. 10 shows a gripping element embodying a combination of featuresseparately shown in other figures.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 shows the top portion of a money bagIt or the like with the seal applied thereto. The bag is usually formedof some sturdy textile fabric such as canvas. After being filled, theneck portion of the bag is gathered at H and surrounded by a cord l2usually arranged in two loops each of which passes through acompressible distortable sealing member It of lead or the like in amanner well known in the art. A preferred method of threading the cordthrough sealing member I4 is shown in Fig. 9. The sealing member 14 ispro- Claims. (01. 292308) vlded with four parallel holes 15. The cord isfirst passed through one of the inner holes, formed into a loop, passedthrough an outer hole on the opposite side, across the base of the sealand through an outer hole on the other side and back through theremaining inner hole. By pulling on the free ends of the cords emergingfrom thetwo inner holes, the two loops may be tight ened about the neckof the bag and this is usually done by means of a tool which also servesto crimp the relatively soft metal of sealing member l4 while the cordsare held tight. The crimping partially closes the holes through themember and bends them, thus making it impossible to withdraw the cord.

The present invention resides in a novel form of baggripping elementwhich is interposed between sealing member l4 and the neck of bag It,the cord being threaded through it. One form of such element is shown inFigs. 3 and 4'. This gripping element is formed, by punching, stampingand drawing operations, from sheet metal such as steel and comprises twoangularly disposed flat sides 16 and it provided with elongated openings[9 and 2E]. At an intermediate stage in its production, the element hasthe flat form shown in Fig. 2 wherein the upper and lower edges El and22 of the blank are shown as serrated. The points of the serrations arepreferably blunt rather than sharp so as not to damage the material ofthe bag Ii]. The blank .of Fig. 2 is subsequently formed by suitableoperations into the shape shown in Figs. 3 and i, a portion of the upperpart of the blank being formed over along the horizontal dotted line toproduce a flange 24,-the sides It and It being bent substantiallytoaright angle on the central vertical dotted line. f

On the fiat outer faces of the sides is and is, beneath the holes 19 and2%, the element may be stamped with the name of the banker other userfor identification purposes, the fiat surfaces of the sides providing aconvenient place on which to form this marking. r

Fig. 5 shows a slightly modified form in which the lower edge 22a of theelement is smooth instead of being serrated and in which the holes l9aand 20a are somewhat wider. The size of the holes, however, is notimportant so long as they are sufficiently large to freely receive theloops of the cord I2 without binding or chafing and, to prevent damageto the cord during application of the seal, the edges of the openingsare preferably blunt and free from burrs.

Fig. 6 shows a further modification in which shown in Figs. 6 and 7 mayeither be smooth as 7 shown in the drawings or serrated as shown a 22 inFig. 3.

In use, the bag gripping element is positioned with its apex 28 adjacentsealing member it, cord 12 passing through the holes l9 and 29. As

may be seen from Figs. 1 and 9; the angular disposition of the flatsides of the gripping element provides for a very small arrangement ofcontact between the element and the sealing member I l, thus exposingon'each side of the apex 28' two reaches of the cord I2. Thus byinserting a knife between either side of the gripping element and thesealing member, both loops of the cord may be severed substantiallysimultaneously for'the removal of the seal from the bag and the grippingelement efiectively protects the bag against injury during the cuttingor" the cord. While it is not broadly new to interpose between the sealand the bag a gripping element which protects the bag from damage duringthe cutting of the cord, the above described form of sealing element hasthe advantage of making both of the loops more readily accessible forcutting from one side only.

While the angle between the sides It and [8 of the sealing element isshown and described above as a right angle, there is nothing criticalabout the angle and it may be somewhat greater or smaller withoutchanging the function.

The seal assembly is preferably appliedto a bag in the manner shown inFig. 1 with the flange 24 uppermost. When the cord is tightened aroundthe neck of the bag, there is some bulging of the material of the bagabove the gripping element but there is usually a much greater bulgingbelow it, caused by the contents of the bag. When cords are tightened tobring flange 25 into gripping engagement with the neck portion of thebag above the cords, it tends to tilt the gripping element so as topress the lower edge 22 inwardly against the bag, producing firmengagement of the bag by both the upper edge 2| of the flange and thelower edge 22 of the element.

Referring to Fig. 8, which is a section through the gripping element ofthe type having secondary flanges as shown in Figs. 6 and '7, it will beseen that a dual gripping action is provided by the flange 2s and thesecondary flange 25a. Since the secondary flanges may be produced bybending inwardly the material which is displaced to form the openings,this metal is put to a useful purpose instead of being discarded as isthe case where the metal is completely removed from the openings.

Fig. 10 shows an embodiment similar to that of Fig. 6 but having itslower edge serrated as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 at 22.

The above described embodiments instead of being produced by formingsheet metal, may also be formed by die casting and may be made frommaterials other than metal and by other processes. For example, they maybe molded from any plastic material which has sufficient rigidity andstrength, numerous such materials being known. The configuration of thegripping element is such as to provide suflicient structural strengthwhen it is made from such material as molded plastic, the flange orflanges being reinforcements.-

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the detailsof the illustrative embodiments shown and described but that variousmodifications may be made therein within the scope of the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is: i

1. In combination with a sealing device for the gathered neck portion ofa bag of the type comprising a cord adapted to be arranged in one ormore loops around said neck portion, and a cordanchoring sealing memberof compressible material having holes through which said cord isthreaded; a rigid bag-gripping element having two angularly disposedflat sides in which are openings to freely receive said cord in itspassage to and from said. sealing member, said element having abag-engaging flange along adjacent edges of the sides of saidelementwhich flange extends inwardly of the space between said sides, saidelement being threaded on said looped cord with its apex adjacent saidsealing member.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein the edge of said flange is serrated.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein the edge of said flange and the edgesof said sides opposite thereto are serrated.

4. The device of claim 1 wherein secondary flanges extend inwardly ofthe space included between said sides along the longitudinal edges ofsaid openings.

5. The device of claim 4 wherein said secondary flanges extend along theedges of said openings which are closest to said flange.

6. The device of claim 4 wherein the said secondary flanges haveserrated edges.

7. The device of claim 4 wherein said element is a sheet metal elementand said secondary flanges are integral with the said sides.

GEORGE G. CANTER. GILBERT G. CANTER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 2,163,660 Brooks June 27, 1939 2,578,504 Canter D80. 11, 1951

